RESEARCH PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION (RPA) CORE Summary The overarching goal of FAMU RCMI Center application (2019-2024) is to establish an interdisciplinary Center addressing minority health and health disparities. The Center will focus on efforts to pursue excellence in health disparities basic and behavioral research, training ?next generation? minority biomedical and behavioral scientists and to support community partnerships that reduce racial health disparities. The overall goal of the Research Program Administration (RPA) Core is to manage and coordinate the entire range of the Center's activities, monitor its progress, and confirm that all the component's plans are implemented. The key RPA components of the core consist of the: PI/PD, Co-PD, Core Leaders, Research Projects PIs, External Advisory Committee (EAC), Internal Advisory Committee (IAC) and External Program Evaluator. These units will work as one team to implement the development of concepts, directions, monitoring, and review of research activities; and oversee the implementation of program initiatives. A critical function of the RPA is to implement and manage the Career Enhancement Program (CEP) which will: 1) Provide workshops and training programs. 2) Support faculty and staff attendance at national conferences, workshops, and training in minority health and health disparities. 3) Provide scientific seminars. 4) Support the RCMI Research Collaboration Program. 5) Leveraging RCMI Research Coordination Network (RRCN) and the National Research Mentoring program (NRMN) for career enhancement and training. The RPA will work with the external program evaluator to evaluate the FAMU RCMI Center proficiency, progress, and outcomes for defined specific aims and goals. In the evaluation plan, inputting parameters will be used to reach data-driven decisions and steer the future direction of the program, optimizing the efficiency, effectiveness, and success. Services provided by RPA will ensure investigators advancing their area of research experiences and expertise to focus on diseases that affect minority groups and to reduce health disparities. 1